Sakura, The Stratus Soilder
by General Laura
Summary: Another backstory...story for this one hope people like and feedback is appreciated, aaaand done o/


Chapter 1: The beginning

Our story begins in The Stratus Empire, there a child was born, from a couple, bound by honer and love for one another, Solider Hikaru and wife Ibuki gave birth to a child, a small, plump girl, with tears coming from her mothers eyes, over joyed at the sight of her newly born child "What shall we call her?" Ibuki said, holding the baby in her arms, as she fell asleep in her arms, " How about...Sakura?" replied Hikaru, smiling at the sleeping child, "what a wonderful name" she replied, giving him a kiss, before falling asleep with the baby still in her arms.

During her early years, Sakura grew an interest in the military, she watched her father train in the courtyards along with his comrades, she seemed mesmerised by his actions, the way he moved, his stance seemed almost like dancing to the little girl, being a kung-fu master, Sakura's Father was very good at beating down a target, with blows of fire and wind penetrating the air, crashing on the dummy's he practised on, his kicks were as fast as lightning, one after one the dummy's fell, exploding into several pieces, mesmerised by her dad's fighting, she ran down to him, jumping on him, bringing him down from the surprise attack, leaving him laughing on the floor, she asked if he would train her in the art of kung-fu, he smiled back, stroking her hair before nodding in agreement, Sakura's heart exploded with joy, being able to follow in her fathers footsteps seemed like a dream come true.

Striving to be the best, she trained with her father every day, trading punches and kicks with him, almost beating him on several occasions, but she could never put him down, he always seemed to come back from losing, still, Sakura was enjoying her time with her father, improving her skills everyday. One day, Sakura was doing some late night training, till she saw an ominous blue glow coming from her mothers room, out of curiosity she went to investigate what the strange glow was. "mom?" she said peering her head through the door, before seeing her mother, bending ice to her will, she had created a spectacular statue of the family, the features and detail were amazing, truly eye blowing to the little Jin's eyes. " Wow mom, how did you do that" she said, gobsmacked at the sculpture that stood in front of her, shocked by her daughter appearance "o, Sakura you scared me" she said, crafting the last piece of the sculpture with a shot of ice " i.. i was just working on a little project" she giggles, blushing from the face, "how did you...make that...out of nothing" Sakura said, still shocked from the manifestation of the icy statue " o...this is Frost Chi, its something i was brought up with" she said showing Sakura her Bangle "do you want to try" passing the bangle to Sakura "s..sure" placing the bangle on her left hand as she still had a training glove on the other. "so, emm" staring at the bangle "so do i just..." she punched the air with the bangled hand, Firing off a barrage of icicles from her fist, penetrating the wall "S..Sakura, how did you do that?" she said, staring at the icicle wall, Sakura panicked, she never intended to cause such damages "i..i don't know, i..im sorr..." her words were suddenly interrupted by her mother, who had encased Sakura in her arms, with tears from her eyes "Mom why are you crying?"  
"o Sakura, im so happy with you"  
"Whats going here?" Sakura's father said, storming into the room, hearing the commotion that had been caused  
"oh Hikaru, its a miracle, our daughter is... a soul fighter" Ibuki said, Hikaru's eyes began to water as he joined in on the hugging of Sakura  
"emm mom, dad, whats a soul fighter?"

Chapter 2: The Stratus Soul Fighter

After Sakura had discovered her new talent, she became quite the celebrity, for she was the first Stratus civilian to "master" the art of soul fighting, she was even asked to join the Stratus military, her eyes widened as she heard that offer, the chance to follow in her fathers footstep was here childhood dream, she gladly accepted the offer and was sent to a training camp, where she practised her new ability's as well as hone her skills to become the best Stratus solider the Empire ever had. During her time there she made a few new friends, Nami, a Yun striving to be a great healer, Kazuhiko, a so called "prince" from the Cinderlands, Shiro, a cute, little Lyn, wanting to become more powerful to protect his village and a brother and sister, Takehiko and Natsuko, wanting to improve there skills so they can protect each other, Sakura could almost call them her second family, by coincidence they all met in the same dorm, linking there friendship the moment they met. As time passed Sakura and her friends were given a lecture on the enemy they will be facing, The Talus, an empire of snobby, rich, power hungry creatures, praying on the weak, acting like they are the top dogs of this Realm, some have even said they were using the "dark art" to strengthen there forces, the constant drilling of this information was embedded into the heads of Sakura and her friends, convincing them that the Talus are heartless people who only care about them self, all in the name of profit and power, to her she saw the Talus as people, who are not "people", on that day she made a vow with her friends that they would never trust a talus, no matter what. After two years of military training, Sakura had transformed herself into a fighting machine, her fist had became iron, Her chi had became as cold as frostbite and her soul was clear and free, despite all that Sakura wasn't your typical, boring solider, she was still a cheerful girl, even in battle she could not help but smile, she was determined to protect the things closest to her , her family, her friends and even the Empire she swore to protect. During her training, she heard a Stratus messenger running down the field, wheezing for breath, as he passed a letter to the instructor of the camp, his eyes bulged, from that expression Sakura could tell that it was bad news. Later that day, everyone was summoned to the centre of the courtyard, there the instructor told them that The Talus were going to invade a Stratus stronghold, an army was coming to take it for there own, and there wasn't enough forces at the stronghold to handle a full army, thats where Sakura and her classmates came in, there were the closest to the stronghold so they were asked to help the stronghold soldiers till reinforcements arrived. Sakura was in shock as her father was at the stronghold, but at the same time...she was happy, she was going to fight along side her father, it was like a sick dream she had, That day, they set out for the stronghold, the battle was about to begin.

Chapter 3: The Battleground

"Daaaaad!" Sakura shouted, seeing her father rallying his troops, she ran up to him as fast as she could, smiling all the way, just before he turned his head, he was confronted by Sakura mid jump with her arms open, before he could react, he crashed to the floor with Sakura's arms, warped around him, "Sakura, what are you doing here?, i thought you were still in military school?" Said Hikaru, smiling back to her daughter, as he was still pinned down by her, before she got up from on top of him "We're here to help you in your fight against the Talus" pumping her fist with determination, as she continued to smile at her father, "We?" peering his head behind Sakura, seeing a large group of about 200 training camp students, filled with different people of race, age and gender, all chatting away "so you guys came to help, hue?" Hikaru said, looking surprised on how many people came from that training camp, " yep, he,he, were here to hold back the Talus till the capital reinforcement come" Sakura said, raising her arm out, showing her father her comrades in arms "now id like to introduce you to my friends" as Her friends emerged from the large crowd of people "These fine soldiers and dear friends of mine are Nami, Kazuhiko, Shiro, Takehiko and Natsuko" pointing to each of them as she said there names, "Its nice to meet you sir!" they all said, bowing toward him, he replied with a short laugh "its nice to meet you all, i assume you've taken good care of my little girl?", "Yes Sir!" they shouted only to be replied with another laugh "no need to be so formal, now Sakura, today is a very special day for you", Sakura seemed confused by her fathers words "special day?" scratching her head with confusion, from Sakura's words, her father was shocked "don't tell me you've forgotten your own Birthday?", Sakura eyes widened " o my gosh, how could i forget" feeling embarrassed that she had forgotten her own birthday, Hikaru laughed as Sakura freaked out, "no need to worry, besides, iv got something for you" he turned around, opening a chest, to pull out a black suit of stratus armor, glimmering in the sun as its silver trims reflected the suns rays, "this was my fathers, he gave it to me on my 16th birthday, now, since your here, Im giving it to you." He passes the precious armour to Sakura, with a smile on her face, she puts it on, a perfect fit it would seem, snuggling into the metal casing, almost like it was made just for her, she began to shed a tear before wrapping her arms around her father "Th..Thank you Dad, i love you", he hugged back, taking one hand to caress her hair softly "I love you two Sakura". As they continued to hold each other, the sound of a battle horn could be heard, they pulled away from each other, taking a look to the watchtower guard "TALUS, COMING FROM THE NORTH!" he yelled, as Sakura and her farther looked through their spyglasses, just seeing a large army of Talus soldiers, spear-men, archers, cannoneer's, shield bearers, Tankers and large "Bloodmanes" could all be see just off in the distance, "well" Hikaru looked at his daughter "Shall give these Talus a run for there money?", "you bet dad" Sakura faced her squad, raising her gauntlet to the air "TODAY, ITS DO OR DIE, MY FRIENDS, THE TALUS WILL BE UPON US AT ANY MOMENT, LEAVE NOT ONE OF THOSE FILTHY TALUS ALIVE!" She yelled to the squareness, as they cheered from her speech "FOR THE STRATUS!" she yelled "FOR THE STRATUS!" they replied raising there weapons to the air, she turns to her father as he smiles back at her, before turning to the Talus "Chaaaaaaargggge!" pointing his fist to the Talus arm, as he began to run to the Talus, followed by Sakura and the rest of the squadrons, The battle had begone.

Chapter 4: The Loss

As the fighting rained on, Both Talus and Stratus Soldiers fought a ferocious battle, slaying each other one by one, falling to the ground in a pool of there own blood. During the battle, Sakura and her father, had slayed far too many Talus to keep track of, there gauntlets were covered in the blood of those filthy Talus, as it dripped off like rain, not far behind was her squadron, following them into glorious battle, Sakura turned back to see them with a gleaming smile, she smiled back as she continued to pummel Talus into the ground. It all seemed to be going swimmingly, Almost half of the Talus army had been vanquished with little loses to the Stratus as they plowed closer to the back-lines, seeming like nothing could stop them. Sakura smiled to her father till it was interrupted by the sound of cannon-fire, they looked up, only to see that the sky was filled with molten balls of lead and iron, almost blocking the sun from there eyes "DAAAAAAD!" Sakura shouted, trying to form a barrier around him and her squadron, but in a flash of light, the cannonballs let loose there fury on the soldiers, tons of hot lead crushed, exploded and wounded stratus soldiers, creating a dust cloud as they impacted the ground, only hearing screams of fellow soldiers dying, Sakura cried as she held her Father close, hoping to shield him with her barrier, but her chi wasn't strong enough and it cracked above her, a lonely cannonball propelled her and her father to the ground. As the Smoke began to set, the sounds of deathly screams had stopped, only the wind could be heard, blowing silently through the deselect battlefield, Sakura opened her eyes, moaning slightly in pain as she had been badly wounded from the cannon fire, she couldn't feel her legs, not broken just too weak to pull her up, she began to cough up blood, splattering the ground beneath her, as she turned her gaze to see the destruction that had been caused, Her entire squadron had been wiped out they were nothing more than corpses as they lay to rest on the battlefield. Her eyes began to water as she say all the familiar faces she had known, she sightly whispered there names as she came to sight of them "Nami", "Kazuhiko", "S-Shiro", "Takehiko", "Natsuko", "im sorry, im sorry i couldn't protect you" she began to cry, her tears merging with the blood, till she heard her Father's cry "S-Sakura", "D-Dad", noticing he was a few feet away from him, she crawled her damaged body towards him, only to see that his legs had been entirely blown up, continually dripping on the floor "Looks like this is it for me" letting off a chuckle only to cough up blood "Don't say that, I can fix this" she tried to harness her chi, in order to seal the wound, ice began to form around the wound, till she coughed up blood, choking, making the ice become mear water, she tried and tried again, trying to use up all her strength in order to save her father, but she could not seal the wound, her own wounds were sapping her of her strength, panting frantically while crying up a storm "Sakura...Stop, your hurting yourself, Im going to die anyway, so...please...go...live on" her farther muttered "No no, no, don't say that, your gonna be ok, well get you hel.." her words were interrupted as her father cupped her cheek, "Sakura, everyone has to die someday, but you must live on, I'll be with you, even when im gone, live on my cherry blossom" her said with tears in his eyes as he kissed her cheek with his last breath he said "Goodbye...Sakura, I love... you" he closed his eyes, as death had finally come for him, his grip on Sakura's cheek began to wither, falling to the ground. "no, No!, NO!, Dad don't leave me, Dad, Dad!, please Dad...dad..." her voice withered as her tears began to swim down, letting off a cry that echoed across the battlefield, she crawled up to his body, hugging him as tight as she could, her strength had been sapped from her attempts to save him, her eyes began to shut, she had lost too much blood, as she let out one more word to her dead father "D...ad" she passed out as she held her Father, clinging to him as hard as she could, but this wasn't the end for Sakura, not by a long shot.

Chapter 5: Sakura and the Talus

Sakura woke up, her eye's adjusting to the new light that had formed around "where...where am I" She mumbled, rising from a bed of sorts, before moaning in pain as her back was still in pain from the battle, she rubbed it softly, feeling bandages had been placed on her back, wrapping around her wounds. She took a good look around the room she was in, it was filled with bright colours,fabric hanging down from the sealing, Sakura felt like she was a princess of sorts as she raised slowly from her bed, till she heard a voice darting her vision to the door "Well it seems that your awake" the voice mumbled from the other side of the door, slowly opening to reveal a man, in his late teens, hair short and jet black, his eyes covered by a small pair of spectacles as he flicked them up "Who...Who are yo..." her words cut short as her back pain returned, releasing a cry of pain as she covered her back with her hand "Hey.. be careful, your still recovering" the man said rushing to Sakura's aid, rubbing her back with a wet solution, Sakura jumped as the cold hand rubbed against her back, blushing a little "H..hey, what you doing?" she replied to the man "im applying some solution to your back, it should ease the pain a bit" he replied, continuing to rub her back "im fine, i don't need your hel..." her words were cut short as the burning pain from her back had gone, she looked back to the man, with a smile on her face "t..thank you, i guess" she said, looking away from him slightly, embarrassed that she almost refused his help "no problem" he replied with a smile on his face, rubbing the last of the solution on her back "i would freak out too, if a stranger was rubbing stuff on my back" giving her a hearty chuckle, as he lifted his hand away from her back "that should do, it try giving it a stretch". Sakura Chuckles back to him, as she stretched her arms out, raising her back into the air, grunting as she does so "Wow, i feel...better, Thank you...emm" she stops mid sentence, still not knowing the name of her "Savior", the man pulled away from Sakura's bed, standing up straight to her, giving her a welcoming bow "Im sorry for the late introduction, my name is Jun Hisashi, its nice to meet you Miss..." he stopped too as he didn't even know his patient, "Im Sakura, Sakura Yūbina" she nods her head at the man, he smiles back, passing her armour "i believe this is yours", Sakura instantly grabs it and hugs it close to her, weeping softly. "im guessing it was given by someone close to you" Jun asked Sakura, she nodded gently "my dad, he gave it on my 16th birthday" she continued to weep as she held the armour close as she whispers softly "Daddy", the man smiled as he patted Sakura's back, before a large thud came from the entrance, Jun opened the door with a smile on his face, seeing two talus "business" men came in suppressing Sakura on the bed "T..TALUS!, GET OFF ME YOU SCUM" she tossed and turned, trying to break free, kicking one of them in her face, "How dare you Slave" he slapped her across her face, she began crying "JUN! HELP ME" She cried out, seeing that he was given a large amount of money, wrapped in a brown cloth bag, her turned to her with a smile "Sorry dear, its business" beginning to count his coins. Sakura was repeatably beaten by the guardsmen, till she stopped, too weak to fight back, she weakly breathed as she was severely bruised "geez, shes feisty" one of the guardsmen said, "she'll fetch a hefty price" the other guardsmen chuckled as he pulled Sakura out of the house by her hair, she was too weak to scream as she was barely awake, the next thing she knew she was thrown into a cage, with several other women, also beaten and bruised as they whimpered in fear as the cage closed, before the carriage departed, crashing the cage up and down, women stammering on each other, Sakura was too weak to move, she collapsed in the centre of the cage, her destination, pure hell.


End file.
